Love this. I do feel that ideas can be beautiful. However, it’s too easy for me to be enthralled by ideas, which are abstract, so much that I miss the grounded beauty of the physical, sensory world. Sensory engagement can have an ecstatic response. The body experiences beauty differently than the mind. That riot of color and pattern in the restaurant probably came with smells and sounds. (I so appreciate the carefully alternating tablecloth colors. 😊)
Thanks, Julie. I agree that it's easy to get sucked into the abstract pleasures of ideas. And while I also agree that "sensory engagement can have an ecstatic response", I'm not sure that everything that pleases the body falls under the rubric of "beauty" for me.
And yes: the fact that they deliberately alternate the (arguably ugly) tablecloth colors shows that there is a deliberate aesthetic at play here. It's just one that seems foreign to me at first. Which I see as en exciting challenge.
Saw Perfect Days with my daughter last year and we loved it! Much more than the film about the Sout-Korean couple who get in touch again after twenty (?) years.
Thank you for sharing this concept so eloquently..I live in Guadalajara for 22 years now (from the US..Idaho, Alaska, Seattle, and San Diego..beautiful places all) and in Guadalajara “I see beauty everywhere” just as you’ve described…I refer to the “clean” or “tasteful” aesthetics I was accustomed to as “antiseptic” thus simply not nearly as interesting.
I always looked for - and have been impressed by - beauty, especially in the aesthetic sense, but I never thought of this distinction. Your proposal that beauty is not inherent in the thing but it's our experience of the thing is simply wonderful. It makes so much sense, especially in those instances when we are stunned by something we see as gorgeous, and the person next to us is either unimpressed or simply impatient with our silliness.
Thanks for this post! I don’t travel much, (especially solo, for which you make such a strong case in your recent post), so I resolved while reading this that I should really concentrate on being less hemmablind. Then I got up to start my day, walked into my living room (lights off, all in shadow from moonlight streaming in) and spontaneously thought, “Wow! That’s really beautiful!” Sometimes it doesn’t take much - just a shift in focus.
Thanks for sharing, Gregory. As someone who also caught the "living abroad" bug, I've always loved the constant change it gives me...but it's also been challenging to truly feel "at home."
But I was curious...have you ever moved back to the US—and like Hirayama—tried to find the beauty of living there?
Hi David! Thanks for being here. I know what you mean about the thrill of constant change, and how that is at odds with feeling "at home". My view is that I am "at home" in any place where I feel safe and centered. That may be the place where I grew up, or it may be a place I have discovered more recently. I have definitely felt more at home in Europe than in the US for the past couple decades.
As for moving back to the US and finding beauty, yes I have done it. I spent much of my 20s and 30s in the US, going to graduate school among other things, and I looked for beauty there in the same way I would in Europe. I find that nature is a sure win: the ice on the lake by my parents' house, framed by pines with their arms outstretched, is as dear to me as any other scene. And the urban landscape of Boston, which feels like home to me (or has done) can be thrilling in much the same way as Amsterdam. I admit to having trouble with strip malls. But you know, even puddles on asphalt can be beautiful in the right light. I think it really is a question of being on the lookout for beauty.
Thanks Gregory. I can relate to feeling more at home in Europe too. But you're right, it's about finding beauty wherever we are. Perhaps that's the lesson for me to learn right now in life. Thanks and for the Hirayama recommendation (bookmarked)!
I think it's not a bad lesson. Speaking of good films, I don't know whether you have seen "American Beauty", but in it a teenager shares a video of "the most beautiful thing" he's ever seen—which is a plastic bag dancing in the wind. And it really is beautiful. Beauty is there. We just need to look for it.
Well written , and such a great point!! I remember teaching this to postpartum women in my online course when I very first recorded it. This lesson never ever gets old - it is what makes life feel alive! And we are in complete control of it.
Perspective truly is everything, isn’t it? Still, I can’t wait to get back to Europe (very soon!) to take in all the beauty again. So charming there and so so different than the United States. I wonder if Europeans have a similar experience when they visit the US or if they are horrified by what they find? (I suppose it depends on their perspective…and the exact location.)
Yes, Asia, perspective really is everything (or most everything)! The Europeans I have talked to after they visited the US are usually enchanted with it, but NOT because it is beautiful. Instead, they are fascinated by the culture—for example, how friendly and fun-loving people tend to be.
I so understand what you are talking about here. I lived outside the United States and traveled extensively in my 20s and early 30s. I used to marvel at the 'lucky' people who carried out their day to day lives in beautiful, ancient villages and cities. Coming back to the U.S was difficult at first. My life felt ordinary and dull. Over time, I began to see that my own day to day life is happening in a beautiful place. I had to step back and see it with a different eye. Often, when I yearn to travel, but cannot, I remind myself of those people going about their everyday lives and know that I am one of them too.
Absolutely loooooved this post. As a fervent traveller I realize I have been hemmablind but now that I can't return to my og hemma in Venezuela I can only imprint my soul with its photos and memories. I even feel fomo of my friends still experiencing its beauty in spite of the Dictatorship.
What an incredibly useful word, “hemmablind”! And ahhh, “Perfect Days”. ❤️ I did a write-up of the film a few weeks ago, such a pleasure to spend so much time with it!
I also think Lisbon is a particularly beautiful city, and judging by the tourist crowds and the countless social media photos, we are not alone in that opinion. But what is interesting to me is that it's not beautiful because an architect designed it to be that way, like parts of Paris or Rome.
Lisbon was was designed for living, the streets scaled for humans, the buildings mostly plain in design, concrete and stone and roof tiles chosen because they are practical and affordable. But over time, with the patina of age and a bit of colourful paint and just the right amount of shabbyness, they become something else altogether. The city's aesthetic is shocking to eyes accustomed to the bland office glass towers and suburban stroads of North America.
But, we too often kill what we love, and I'm afraid the world's newfound appreciation for Lisbon's streets will lead to a polishing away of everything that makes it beautiful.
Thanks, Gary! I am glad that you share my appreciation of Lisbon, including how different it is from cities in North America, but also most cities in Europe. And yes, it is partly the human scale of the city that I love so much. I could go on for hours about the changes being wrought in Lisbon, but I won’t do that here. Maybe I’ll save it for a future essay. Or maybe I’ll spare people. 😊
Love this. I do feel that ideas can be beautiful. However, it’s too easy for me to be enthralled by ideas, which are abstract, so much that I miss the grounded beauty of the physical, sensory world. Sensory engagement can have an ecstatic response. The body experiences beauty differently than the mind. That riot of color and pattern in the restaurant probably came with smells and sounds. (I so appreciate the carefully alternating tablecloth colors. 😊)
Thanks, Julie. I agree that it's easy to get sucked into the abstract pleasures of ideas. And while I also agree that "sensory engagement can have an ecstatic response", I'm not sure that everything that pleases the body falls under the rubric of "beauty" for me.
And yes: the fact that they deliberately alternate the (arguably ugly) tablecloth colors shows that there is a deliberate aesthetic at play here. It's just one that seems foreign to me at first. Which I see as en exciting challenge.
🧡 💚 🧡 💚 🧡 💚
Saw Perfect Days with my daughter last year and we loved it! Much more than the film about the Sout-Korean couple who get in touch again after twenty (?) years.
Glad you liked it, too, Carina! I also saw the film about the South Korean woman (Past Lives or something?) and was a bit unmoved by it.
Funny thing, I was completely unmoved and could not understand all the rage about it.
Yes, same here. I liked the idea more than the execution.
Thank you for sharing this concept so eloquently..I live in Guadalajara for 22 years now (from the US..Idaho, Alaska, Seattle, and San Diego..beautiful places all) and in Guadalajara “I see beauty everywhere” just as you’ve described…I refer to the “clean” or “tasteful” aesthetics I was accustomed to as “antiseptic” thus simply not nearly as interesting.
I always looked for - and have been impressed by - beauty, especially in the aesthetic sense, but I never thought of this distinction. Your proposal that beauty is not inherent in the thing but it's our experience of the thing is simply wonderful. It makes so much sense, especially in those instances when we are stunned by something we see as gorgeous, and the person next to us is either unimpressed or simply impatient with our silliness.
Exactly, Monica! I'm glad you agree. I've had the same experience so many times. Beauty can be very individual.
Thanks for this post! I don’t travel much, (especially solo, for which you make such a strong case in your recent post), so I resolved while reading this that I should really concentrate on being less hemmablind. Then I got up to start my day, walked into my living room (lights off, all in shadow from moonlight streaming in) and spontaneously thought, “Wow! That’s really beautiful!” Sometimes it doesn’t take much - just a shift in focus.
Adam, I’m glad that you are such a faithful and attentive reader. Either that, or we’re right on the same wavelength—as though we were related!
Thanks for sharing, Gregory. As someone who also caught the "living abroad" bug, I've always loved the constant change it gives me...but it's also been challenging to truly feel "at home."
But I was curious...have you ever moved back to the US—and like Hirayama—tried to find the beauty of living there?
Hi David! Thanks for being here. I know what you mean about the thrill of constant change, and how that is at odds with feeling "at home". My view is that I am "at home" in any place where I feel safe and centered. That may be the place where I grew up, or it may be a place I have discovered more recently. I have definitely felt more at home in Europe than in the US for the past couple decades.
As for moving back to the US and finding beauty, yes I have done it. I spent much of my 20s and 30s in the US, going to graduate school among other things, and I looked for beauty there in the same way I would in Europe. I find that nature is a sure win: the ice on the lake by my parents' house, framed by pines with their arms outstretched, is as dear to me as any other scene. And the urban landscape of Boston, which feels like home to me (or has done) can be thrilling in much the same way as Amsterdam. I admit to having trouble with strip malls. But you know, even puddles on asphalt can be beautiful in the right light. I think it really is a question of being on the lookout for beauty.
Thanks Gregory. I can relate to feeling more at home in Europe too. But you're right, it's about finding beauty wherever we are. Perhaps that's the lesson for me to learn right now in life. Thanks and for the Hirayama recommendation (bookmarked)!
I think it's not a bad lesson. Speaking of good films, I don't know whether you have seen "American Beauty", but in it a teenager shares a video of "the most beautiful thing" he's ever seen—which is a plastic bag dancing in the wind. And it really is beautiful. Beauty is there. We just need to look for it.
Well written , and such a great point!! I remember teaching this to postpartum women in my online course when I very first recorded it. This lesson never ever gets old - it is what makes life feel alive! And we are in complete control of it.
Thanks again!
I'm so glad that it resonated with your experience, Elizabeth. Thanks very much!
Beautiful!
Thanks! And who can argue about beauty with someone named Joy?
Perspective truly is everything, isn’t it? Still, I can’t wait to get back to Europe (very soon!) to take in all the beauty again. So charming there and so so different than the United States. I wonder if Europeans have a similar experience when they visit the US or if they are horrified by what they find? (I suppose it depends on their perspective…and the exact location.)
Yes, Asia, perspective really is everything (or most everything)! The Europeans I have talked to after they visited the US are usually enchanted with it, but NOT because it is beautiful. Instead, they are fascinated by the culture—for example, how friendly and fun-loving people tend to be.
I so understand what you are talking about here. I lived outside the United States and traveled extensively in my 20s and early 30s. I used to marvel at the 'lucky' people who carried out their day to day lives in beautiful, ancient villages and cities. Coming back to the U.S was difficult at first. My life felt ordinary and dull. Over time, I began to see that my own day to day life is happening in a beautiful place. I had to step back and see it with a different eye. Often, when I yearn to travel, but cannot, I remind myself of those people going about their everyday lives and know that I am one of them too.
It sounds like travel had exactly the effect on you that I tried to describe here. That's wonderful!
I’m so excited for our upcoming trip after reading this. So excited to get elsewhere. Love that you write into a subtle space here
I’m excited about your trip, too! I promise to show you many of my favorite ugly things! 😁
Det var den ❤️
Perfect Days was a wonderful movie!
Wasn’t it though! Den var helt underbar!
Absolutely loooooved this post. As a fervent traveller I realize I have been hemmablind but now that I can't return to my og hemma in Venezuela I can only imprint my soul with its photos and memories. I even feel fomo of my friends still experiencing its beauty in spite of the Dictatorship.
Thank you, Janine! I’m so sorry you can’t go home. 💔 It’s really hemmablind vs. saudade, isn’t it?
Totally!! Or maybe and/or of both!!
What an incredibly useful word, “hemmablind”! And ahhh, “Perfect Days”. ❤️ I did a write-up of the film a few weeks ago, such a pleasure to spend so much time with it!
Oooh, Michael, I will have to look for that. Isn’t it a gorgeous film? And the acting by Koji Yakusho! So great…
Right? That ending especially. 💔 What a performance!
I also think Lisbon is a particularly beautiful city, and judging by the tourist crowds and the countless social media photos, we are not alone in that opinion. But what is interesting to me is that it's not beautiful because an architect designed it to be that way, like parts of Paris or Rome.
Lisbon was was designed for living, the streets scaled for humans, the buildings mostly plain in design, concrete and stone and roof tiles chosen because they are practical and affordable. But over time, with the patina of age and a bit of colourful paint and just the right amount of shabbyness, they become something else altogether. The city's aesthetic is shocking to eyes accustomed to the bland office glass towers and suburban stroads of North America.
But, we too often kill what we love, and I'm afraid the world's newfound appreciation for Lisbon's streets will lead to a polishing away of everything that makes it beautiful.
Thanks, Gary! I am glad that you share my appreciation of Lisbon, including how different it is from cities in North America, but also most cities in Europe. And yes, it is partly the human scale of the city that I love so much. I could go on for hours about the changes being wrought in Lisbon, but I won’t do that here. Maybe I’ll save it for a future essay. Or maybe I’ll spare people. 😊